The carboxyl end groups (CEG) in polymers, such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET), are a measure of the number of unreacted carboxylic acid groups at each end of a polymer chain. The number of CEGs may influence the hydrolysis resistance of geosynthetics, such as geogrids and geotextiles. The lower the CEG value the higher is the hydrolysis resistance of geosynthetics, which in turn increases their stability.
This Application Note describes the photometric titration of carboxyl end groups in PET pellets using the Metrohm Optrode. The acidic end groups of the polymer are titrated with an ethanolic KOH solution using bromophenol blue as indicator.